


If You Take My Hand, We Can Do Anything

by Thatsrightmyhype



Series: You're Always in my Head [2]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Cuddles, Drinking, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Lando Norris dealing with his emotions the British Way, M/M, Max Verstappen's Straightforward Attitude, Misunderstandings, by ignoring them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-18 16:40:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21630679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatsrightmyhype/pseuds/Thatsrightmyhype
Summary: Lando stumbles across a video of Daniel and Max that makes them seem like a little bit more than friends. However, instead of dealing with his emotions like a functioning human being, he tries to just ignore the feelings of jealousy. Things escalate but fortunately Max knows the way to Lando's heart; Grand, romantic gestures.Sequel to "We'll Always Be Okay".
Relationships: Lando Norris/Max Verstappen
Series: You're Always in my Head [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559059
Comments: 14
Kudos: 182





	If You Take My Hand, We Can Do Anything

Lando lies in bed and rewatches the footage of Max and Daniel’s interview with Sky for what must have been at least the fifth time. It had come up on his YouTube suggestions and, thinking it would be funny to see them in action, he’d clicked on it. He’s finding out now that there’s a green-eyed monster inside him and it’s name is jealousy.

“Do you miss me?”  
“Ha, do you miss me?”  
“Hey, I asked first!”

The easy camaraderie between the pair makes Lando’s stomach twist into knots. Every time he sees the video again, he notices something else, like the way Dan’s eyes lingered a little too long on Max when he wasn’t looking, the flirty undertones of their conversation, the way Max just laughed at everything Dan said. Does he ever laugh that much at Lando? He mentally goes through all the recent conversations he can remember them having and he’s not so sure.

He knows he’s probably overreacting but he can’t help but feel possessive: after so much waiting, he just wants Max all to himself and, although it’s impossible with the media scrutiny they’re under, he feels a burning need to show the world that he’s his, to put his claim on Max Verstappen.

Now he’s seen this video, he’s utterly reminded that to everyone else, Max is an available bachelor, free to do as he pleases and he can’t help but feel a little hopeless at that notion. He rolls onto his front, burying his head into his pillow and trying to forget about everything. Just as he’s succeeding at falling asleep, his phone begins to buzz in his hand. Looking at the caller ID, he considers not answering just to be petty but his need to talk to Max is greater than his pride.

“Hey,’ he says quietly.

“Good evening,’ Max replies and the instant relief that flows through Lando’s body at hearing the other man’s voice should be embarrassing but he can’t bring it in himself to care.

“What’s up?’ He asks, trying his best to remember what a normal conversation between the pair of them sounds like.

“Nothing much, just thought I’d give you a quick call to see how you were before going out,’ he says and Lando smiles.

There’s no race this weekend and, although Max had offered for Lando to come and visit him, Lando is honestly so sick of travelling all the time right now that he had decided he’d stay at home and rest. He’s slightly regretting it, what with the way his thoughts have been seeming to spiral into a constant cycle of jealousy but he’s also really missed his own bed.

“Aww, you were thinking about me?’ He teases, knowing full-well that his own head has been entirely consumed with thoughts about Max.

“Of course,’ Max says matter-of-factly, ‘Constantly.”

Lando groans.

“I’ve told you before, you can’t just come out with this romantic shit!’ Lando says down the phone, his cheeks heating and stomach doing some flips at the words, ‘Give a man a bit of warning first!”

“And I’ve told you that I do what I want,’ Max replies, laughing at Lando’s answering embarrassed noise, ‘But you’re okay right? Eating a well-balanced diet, drinking lots of milk like a good boy?”

“Piss off,’ Lando says but he’s laughing too now, ‘I’ve mostly just been sleeping or training but at least I get some time to myself.”

“Oh do you really?’ Max asks and Lando can picture him waggling his eyebrows suggestively as if he’s in the sat right next to him even though he’s thousands of miles away.

“You know what I mean,’ he says although he can’t stop the way his dick twitches at the thought, ‘Aren’t you supposed to be heading out soon?”

“Yeah, Dan is waiting for me in the lobby, I said I’d go for a couple of drinks with him tonight,’ he replies and Lando’s good mood instantly evaporates.

“Oh, cool,’ he says, trying to sound nonchalant, ‘Don’t let him get you too drunk.”

“Is something wrong?’ Max asks and Lando curses himself for forgetting that Max has a sixth sense when it comes to Lando’s emotions.

“No, nothing wrong here!’ He says, definitely sounding forcefully cheerful now, ‘I think mum’s calling me for tea, speak to you later!”

“Oh, okay, enjoy,’ Max says, sounding a little confused.

“Bye Max,’ Lando says, not quite being able to hang up without saying that.

“Yeah, talk to you later babe,’ Max replies and Lando bites his lip at the use of the nickname before ending the call.

Lying back down on his bed, he groans and runs his palm across his face: he should’ve known Max would instantly be able to tell that Lando wasn’t happy. Why couldn’t he just let it slide that him and Dan had a close friendship? He’s close to Carlos and Max had never mentioned having a problem with it. He also really liked Dan, the two of them having a good friendship before him and Max were ever an item. So why did he feel so twisted up inside about everything?

Lando spends the rest of the night sulking before drifting into a disturbed sleep. When he wakes up, he finds he has text messages from both Max and Dan. He opens Dan’s one first, feeling like he should get it out of the way.

'cum nd get ur bf’ it reads, with a video attachment. Lando nearly falls out of bed when he opens it and the tinny volume of his phone struggles to process that amount of sound. Max is standing on a table throwing out some god-awful dance moves while Lando can hear Dan shouting encouragement at him from behind the phone. Max jumps off the table and crowds the camera, his face serious but his eyes drunkenly cross-eyed.

“Oi Maxy, what do you wanna say to Lando?’ Dan asks and Max’s face instantly transforms into a dreamy smile.

“That he’s the best and I’m sorry for making him sad and I wanna fuck him so badly,’ Max says, pulling the camera closer to press a sloppy kiss to the lens, ‘He’s so fucking sexy Dan, honestly, have you seen him?!”

“I have seen him,’ Dan replies, trying to sound serious as he pulls the phone away from Max and turns it to his own face, looking like a dad trying to FaceTime for the first time, ‘You heard it here first Lando!”

Max then tries to grab the phone again and the video ends with quite an unflattering image of the camera pointing right up Max’s nose. Lando tries to feel annoyed at Max getting super drunk without him and having what looked like a great time with Dan but it seems as though his brain has short-circuited at the words ‘I wanna fuck him so badly’ coming out of Max’s mouth, directed at him. After taking a moment to process that information, Lando opens the text from Max only to see there are quite a few.

‘i know i said i wouldnt get 2 drunk but is 2 late now sorry’  
‘dan is bad influence sorrryy’  
‘i’m sorry for making u sad ealier i didnt mean 2 nigh night baby xxx’

Lando feels like he’s going to combust once again at the fact that Max drunk texts like a teenage girl. He also feels bad that even at his obviously peak drunkenness earlier in the night, he was still thinking of Lando and the fact that he might be annoyed at him. Scrolling down once more he sees that Max has sent him a three photos. The first one is a blurry selfie of him and Dan, the older driver pressing a sloppy kiss to Max’s cheek while he looks like he’s shouting something. Lando isn’t sure if he thought he was taking a video but he’s sure it would be just as loud as the one Dan sent him so he’s kind of grateful (even if that jealous edge is back after seeing Dan giving Max a kiss).

The second photo is of a stray cat, obviously taken while the pair were walking home, with the caption ‘hes cute, thought youd wanna see’. When Lando opens the final picture, he’s simultaneously surprised and not at all surprised to see it’s a dick pic. Obviously taken by a shaky but practised hand, Max is sat at an angle, the photo just showing his lips in the corner while the rest is taken up by his naked body. His hand is loosely clasped around the base of his dick but he’s still miraculously hard and Lando can’t help but admire that fact seeing as he definitely seemed like he was totally wasted in that video Dan sent to him. Just the bedside light was on in the room so whole photo is lit in a dim hue that casts amazing shadows on Max’s abs. Lando realises his mouth is wide open in shock and he has to shake his head to snap himself out of it.

He types and retypes a message, trying to work out what an appropriate response to that whole litany of messages is before giving up to think a bit and rolling over onto his back.

There’s no lack of evidence that Max really likes him. If he wasn’t sure before, he’s definitely sure now. He sighs and looks at his phone again, deciding to try and take his mind off of things until he decides what to reply to Max’s message by mindlessly scrolling through some social media feeds. He manages to open Instagram before he’s interrupted by a phone call from Max. He hesitates for s second before answering, channeling as much positivity as he can.

“Good morning super Max,’ he singsongs, chuckling when he hears the pained groan of his boyfriend on the other end.

“Please whisper only,’ Max says quietly, ‘I am fragile.”

Lando laughs, mouth slightly away from the receiver before leaning back in.

“Seemed like you had a good time last night,’ he says, not even bothering to phrase it like a question.

“It all seemed fun at the time but I’m having some monster-sized regrets this morning,’ he mutters, ‘I need to rewind time and tell young me not to let Dan buy jaegerbombs.”

Lando forces out a chuckle, even with the mention on Dan.

“Well I’m glad you enjoyed yourselves,’ he says while Max lets out a thoughtful hum, ‘I enjoyed the video Dan sent me.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line.

“What video?’ Max asks.

“The one of you saying how badly you want to…fuck me,’ Lando says, his voice low.

“Hmm, interesting,’ Max says before his voice gets quieter as he moves away from the receiver, ‘Dan, did you send Lando a video last night?”

Lando feels his heart pounding in his chest: Dan is still with Max? Did he stay over? Without even thinking, Lando hangs up the phone, throwing it to the other end of his bed and squashing it with a pillow. His mind suddenly bombards him with mental images of the two former teammates, of Dan watching while Max took that nude, him being the one to make him that hard, both of them finishing each other off before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

Lando knows it’s all part of his spiralling imagination but at the same time, a large part of his brain is whispering a little ‘what if?’ In his ear tauntingly. He feels his phone vibrating through the pillow as Max probably tries to call him back but he can’t bring himself to talk to him right now. Instead, he slides his hand under the pillow and holds the key to turn the phone off, not even wanting to look at the screen and see the familiar name there. Now the phone is silent, he pulls it out from under the pillow and places it on his bedside table.

Looking around the room, he wonders for a moment what he’s going to do today seeing as using his phone is out of the question. He can’t go on iRacing because Max could probably find out if he was on it. He doesn’t really feel up to doing much extra training when he’s got time off like this. Eventually he settles on doing a bit of spring cleaning, sorting through some boxes in his room. He always puts off when he goes home but, seeing as he’s in need of a decent distraction and needs to expel some nervous energy, it feels like the perfect activity right now.  
He finds his DS that he didn’t know he still had and spends a few hours playing through some old games, only taking a break when his mum comes into his room and announces that they’ll all be going out for a family lunch.

Lunch turns out to be an excellent distraction, his family all engaging Lando in conversations that have absolutely nothing to do with racing. He hasn’t told them about himself and Max yet and, although he hates hiding secrets from them, he feels kind of glad that they have no reasons to interrogate him about what’s been going on between them. He’s pretty sure that conversation would make him cry right now.

When he gets back from lunch, he messes about with some of the karts and bits and pieces in the garage with his brother, feeling an itching need to actually do something with his hands and release the anxious energy gathering under his skin.

“What’s wrong?’ Oliver asks conversationally while Lando is underneath the kart with no way to escape the question.

“Er, what do you mean?’ He asks, feigning innocence.

Oliver sighs.

“You know I can see right through you?’ He says, ‘You never want to work on this stuff with me when you’re at home unless you’re distracting yourself from something. You’ve always been awful at hiding your emotions.”

Lando huffs but can’t help but agree. Sliding out from under the kart, he sits up, pulling his knees up and under his chin in a way that he knows looks very childish but he can’t help but find comforting.

“It’s…’ he starts, wanting so badly to tell his big brother exactly what’s going on, ‘It’s complicated.”

“Then explain it to me,’ Oliver says quietly, sitting down on the ground and patting Lando’s knee.  
Lando gulps then looks down at the floor.

“Me and my boyfriend had a fight,’ he says quietly, not wanting to look up at Oliver and see disappointment written in his face, ‘Well, not so much a fight as he upset me without even meaning to and I can’t…I can’t deal with my emotions like a normal human being.”

There’s a quiet between the two of them, a long stretch of silence that only fuels the anxiety in the pit of Lando’s stomach. Just as he thinks he should just get up, leave and never come back, Oliver’s arms are around him, pulling him in closely for a tight hug.

“Lando, it’s all going to be okay,’ he says, rubbing a big hand up and down his back, ‘Everyone has problems and makes mistakes. If this person is really important to you, you’ll work things out.”

“He is,’ Lando replies, eyes beginning to tear up, ‘He is important to me.”

“Then take a bit of time, think about what you want to say and then go for it,’ Oliver says, pulling back and smiling down at his little brother, ‘I promise it’ll all work out.”

“Thanks Ollie,’ Lando says, resting his head on his brothers shoulder.

They sit in a quiet silence for a few minutes, watching through the garage door as the sun begins to set.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend,’ Oliver says, ‘You know how much I love being involved in your life.”

“Why did you think I kept it to myself?’ Lando says, smiling widely.

“Well obviously they’ll have to come around at some point and meet the family,’ he says matter-of-factly, ‘And we’ll all keep score cards for how well he does and whether he’s worthy of your attention.”

“What the hell Ollie, score cards?’ Lando exclaims, turning to look at his brother who is smirking.

“Well I’ve been excited just at the prospect of you finding someone,’ he says, ‘You’re always up in your room chatting to your online friends, I didn’t know you’d even get out enough to get a boyfriend.”

“It’s someone I play online with that I’m dating,’ Lando says exasperatedly, ‘So much for your little plans.”

“Oh, I see,’ Oliver says, eyeing up Lando conspiratorially, ‘That narrows it down quite a lot.”

“Ugh, I’m not sitting here with you teasing me anymore,’ Lando says jokingly, ‘I’m going inside.”

Oliver follows him, both of them deciding to abandon their kart repair, and they head to the main living room where Oliver has hooked up his playstation. They play a few games of Fifa together and Lando realises that being terrible at that game runs in his family while their sisters complain about them playing on the family TV rather than in their rooms. Lando and Oliver merely laugh and continue on.

After a delicious, home-cooked meal from their mum, everyone in the Norris family sits down and watches some TV. Lando looks around the room at his family and feels so grateful that he’s surrounded by people that support him so much. After a couple of hours, he feels his eyes beginning to droop and takes himself off to bed, diving straight under the covers and not even glancing at the completely silent phone on his bedside table.

*

The next morning, a hurried knock wakes Lando up.

“Lando, Max Verstappen is here to see you!’ His mum calls excitedly through the wood and all the calm feelings he’d managed to regain overnight suddenly drop out of his stomach.

Frantically he runs around the room, trying his best to stuff any random pieces of clothing or mess into ‘neat’ piles before finding something relatively clean to put on. He settles on a long-sleeve Rossi t-shirt and some black sweatpants before he opens the door and hastily makes his way downstairs.

Sure enough, waiting for him in the kitchen is Max, looking like he hasn’t slept for days in crumpled clothes but still animatedly chatting to his parents with a warm smile on his face. Lando’s heart is thumping loudly in his chest as if he’s seeing the other man for the first time and as their eyes meet, he feels tears begin to well up in his eyes.

“Well it was lovely talking to you Mr and Mrs Norris,’ Max says with a charming smile, ‘But it’s really important that I talk to Lando.”

Max hurries him out of the room and Lando is in such a complete daze he can’t even say anything to his parents.

“Where’s your bedroom?’ Max asks and Lando automatically grasps Max’s hand to lead him there, still too shocked to form any kind of coherent sentence or even begin questioning why Max is here.

They pass Oliver on the landing who gives Lando a knowing look. He shrugs in return and his wide eyes obviously tell Oliver that they’re both as surprised as each other.  
Oliver lets them by, squeezing Lando’s shoulder reassuringly before retreating downstairs. Lando opens the door and lets Max inside his bedroom first, praying to God that he managed to hide anything embarrassing in his rushed tidy up. Max looks around, intrigued.

“I’ve only seen your room over your streams before,’ he remarks, making his way over the his racing set-up and thoughtfully prodding the steering wheel.

He seems like he’s stalling so Lando decides to be brave and ask the question that’s actually on his mind.

“Why are you here Max?’ Lando asks quietly and Max whirls around, focusing all his attention on him.

“I was worried about you,’ he says, moving his hands up to rest on Lando’s shoulders, thumbs rubbing small circles into his collarbones, ‘I…I’m not entirely sure what I did but if I have to make some grand gesture to show you how serious I am about this then…here I am.”

He sort of shrugs and looks away but his face is turning more and more red and Lando is hopelessly endeared.

“I’m sorry,’ he says, choking on his words a little as an unexpected sob rises up in his throat, his boyfriend’s presence and the onslaught of emotions that have come with it proving overwhelming.

Max fully wraps his arms around the younger man, pulling them together as close as possible while bringing up a hand to stroke through his hair.

“It’s okay,’ he whispers, pressing a kiss to Lando’s forehead, ‘I have to admit, I did miss you a bit.”

Lando lets out a watery chuckle.

“I missed you too,’ he says, ‘And I’m really sorry.”

“I said it’s okay baby,’ Max replies, wiping away Lando’s tears with his thumb, ‘It’ll always be okay.”

Lando nods, hugging Max around the middle once again before dragging him towards his bed and pulling him down so they can cuddle against the covers. They stay like that for a while, just enjoying the comfort of having each other close.

“I was jealous of Dan,’ Lando says quietly, feeling embarrassed at his extreme reaction already, ‘You two are so close and it’s my first proper relationship, I didn’t want to fuck this up but-“

“You were jealous of Dan?’ Max asks incredulously, pulling back so he can look at Lando’s face.  
“Yes?’ Lando asks, sounding very unsure.

Max looks like he’d be laughing if he were in any other situation but as it is, he settles on a small smile and raised eyebrow.

“You were jealous of that idiot?’ Max asks and Lando ducks his head in embarrassment.

“A little bit,’ he admits.

“Well if it’s confession time, I have been silently filled with jealously at Carlos,’ Max says and Lando sits up to look at him.

“What?!’ He exclaims and it’s Max’s turn to look sheepish now, ‘That’s ridiculous! Carlos is…Carlos!”

“Yeah, a sexy Spanish guy who’s handsome and charming, how stupid of me to be jealous of him,’ Max remarks sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, but he has a girlfriend,’ Lando says matter-of-factly, still not being able to process the fact that Max was jealous at all.

“I had a girlfriend,’ Max shrugs, ‘Dan has had girlfriends. Doesn’t mean anything obviously when it comes to being jealous. Just…you have nothing to be jealous of.”

Lando feels very embarrassed now that he’s beginning to realise how much he overreacted to everything. He presses his face into Max’s chest and groans.

“I’m so sorry,’ he says, rubbing his face against the fabric of Max’s t-shirt.

“It’s okay,’ Max says, rubbing Lando’s back before kissing the top of his head, ‘Just…you’ll never have to worry about me liking anyone else more than you. I…I love you.”

The last words are whispered but there’s no way Lando would have not been able to hear them. He sits up and looks at Max’s face, the raw vulnerability there and the way he nervously bites his bottom lip making his heart beat faster and faster. Lando surges forward, pressing their lips together as he tries to convey how completely consumed he is by his feelings for Max through this kiss. Leaning back, he presses their foreheads together and smiles widely.

“I love you too,’ he whispers, his breath ghosting across Max’s lips, ‘I love you so much.”

Max is smiling widely now and he pulls Lando back down just to squeeze him with a bone-crushing hug. They’re laughing and rolling around the bed feeling light with happiness after their confessions. They stay together for a while kissing languidly before a knock on Lando’s bedroom door springs them apart.

“Lunch is ready,’ Oliver calls through the door, ‘So finish up whatever you’re up to and come downstairs.”

The pair of them look at each other before they begin to giggle.

“We’ll be down in a minute!’ Lando calls through the door.

“Lunch with your parents…Are you sure?’ Max asks, ‘I mean, I know I surprised you. You can just tell me to fuck off if you want?”

“No, it’s okay,’ Lando says, pressing a sweet kiss to Max’s cheek that causes his ears to turn red, ‘I…I want you to meet them properly.”

Max smiles widely.

“I’d like that,’ he says, standing up, ‘Lead the way baby!”

Lando laughs and joins Max, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the bedroom. Their hands stay together as they make their way down the stairs and stand in front of the entrance to the kitchen, sharing a secret smile. Taking a deep breath, they enter the kitchen and, although Lando realises he’s slightly terrified, the tiny squeeze of his hand that Max gives him reassures him that there’s no-one else he’d rather be with. He takes a deep breath and with his head held high walks into the room.

*

The next race weekend, Dan approaches Lando and Max as they’re having a casual conversation in the paddock and slings his arms around them.

“Good morning love birds,’ he says, smile wide before turning to Lando, ‘My precious Milk Child, I just want to let you know that as much as I’d like to be the filling in your combined sandwich of love, I will never, ever steal Max away from you. I know too much about him to ever find him attractive.”

“You told him!’ Lando hisses at Max who has the decency to look sheepish.

“He forced it out of me!’ He says as Dan watches the chaos he’s caused with a smirk, ‘I didn’t want to tell him because I knew it would just feed his ego but I did just abandon him in my flat when I came to see you.”

“He did, he left me on my little lonesome,’ Dan says, sticking his bottom lip out at Lando, ‘But, as I know your love is true, I won’t hold it against you.”

“Thanks?’ Lando says with a questioning tone as Dan just gives him a wide smile.

“You guys are honestly the best, I ship it so much,’ Dan says, gritting his teeth in enthusiasm, ‘God, young love, isn’t it magical?”

He gives them a salute as he walks off and Max groans in embarrassment.

“I can’t believe you thought I’d cheat on you with that walking car crash,’ he says sounding offended but his smile is teasing.

Lando shrugs but he’s still smiling.

“I know better now,’ he says, looking up into Max’s eyes and wishing he could just pull him down for a kiss.

“I know,’ Max says, giving his upper arm a squeeze that could be interpreted as just friendly if it weren’t for the way his thumb ran softly over the muscle there, ‘Just know that we can get through anything.”

“You always throw out all these cheesy lines,’ Lando says, feeling himself beginning to blush and pushing Max away slightly before he does something stupid like literally swoon for him.

“And yet you love me anyway,’ Max says smugly and Lando laughs, not being able to do anything but agree.

“I do,’ he says and the answering smile he gets from Max makes everything feel right in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this fluffy sequel to We'll Always Be Okay. There was a lot of smut in that fic so I thought I'd give everyone a little bit of fluff to enjoy. I certainly enjoyed writing it. I've been posting a lot recently because I wrote several fics as part of NaNoWriMo so if you enjoyed this story, please check out my other F1 related fiction! As per usual, all of this is fictional writing and please don't distribute anywhere else without permission. Let me know if you enjoyed this story and if you have any other Max/Lando scenarios you'd like me to write, I would love to hear them! I live for this pairing. Once again, thank you!


End file.
